William h



(No Model.)

` W. H. STEWART.

y RooPING. No. 358,994. Patented Mar.' 8., 1887.

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.. l Yv lUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM Il. STEWART, OF BROOKLYN, NEW

ROGFlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Parent No. 358.994. ldated March a, 1887.

Application tiled Oct her-23,1866.

To all whom zit may concern.-

'Be itknown that I, WILLIAM Hi STEWART, of Brooklyn, Kings county, in the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Roofing, of which the following is a specification.

ilIany eiTorts have been made to defend the tops of buildings against water, .which is the main and niost frequently required function'of a roof-covcring, and alsoto defend against lire, which is a more rarely required function, but when required is an immensely importantone.`

It is essential in all roof-coverings to have a sufficient amount oftlexibility to allow for the springing of the roofs in gales of wind or when loaded heavily with snow. I have devised a combination of slate with other mate- `rials which fulfills all the"^requirements, Is cheap, and gives promise of l being unusually durable. I employ the slate in the form of slabs, which may be of the same size and character usually employed for rooting. They are so applied as to aid in protecting aplastic composition from the eiects of the air, and to secure perfect protection against fire from out side. My roof-covering will retain a leathery or slightly-liexible quality for a long period.

Thcinventiou is intended more particularly for what are termed flat roofs-those iu which the pitch or inclination is not `morethan one in ten or twenty; but-it may be used with advantageon roofs at all inclinations, or even on uprightV walls. I will describe it as applied to a tlat roof.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, and represent what I con- Sider the'best means of carrying out thc invention.

Fgurel is a top view of a portion of a roof having my invention. Fig. 2is a section` ou the line m w in Fig. 1'. l Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the iigures'wherethey occur.

A is a board of thev roof, which, it will be understood, issupported upon suit-able rafters f or other framing; (Not shown.)

B :is a layer of rooting-felt. I usethree or four ply felt, with the edges joined iu the manner set forth in the patent to me, dated December 15, 1885, No. 332,570. Over this I apply a layer of plastic composition, iu which',

serial No. 211,019. (No model.)

while the composition is soft, I embed slabs of slate, D. It isimportaut that the composition be of va tough nature, and also that it be just sufficienti y soft when fresh, and shall grow harder afterward, but never entirely hard or brittle. It is important that it be not much at`- fected by the extremes of temperature towhich it is exposed in ordinary and extraordinary weather. y

For the plastic layer I use what is commonly known aud on sale in the tradeas Stewarts Iron Fiber Compound Cement. It has been many years in extensive use under that name for cementing around chimneys, skylights, &c., and for repairing defective places in leaky roofs of all kinds. This compositionis onlyslightly softened by heat; Itwill maintain its consistency under the greatest heat of the summer sun.

The slate may be ordinary roofing-slate, preferably having the edges trimmed straight.'

In applying mycovering on a roof the workmen lay' the felt and nail it to theboards, lapping and covering the joints, as fully described in my patent of December, 1885, above referred to. icient distance, they commence and apply the composition with a trowel or other suitable tool, making a'u approximately-uniform layer from an eighth to a quarterof an inch in thickness. The same or another set of workmen apply thereon the slabs of slate, laying them edge to edge without any1 lap. The slates should be pressed down with such force as to raise the composition somewhat in the joints. It is preferable to have the joints flow exactly full. I I f it rises too-much in some places, it can be easily cleaned off 5 -if not sufficient] y, the joint can be pointed I 4will now` des-l ignate the soft 'composition bythe two marks C and C', the markC being applied to the por` tion which lfills the joints between the slates.

riod before the composition will cease to be moderately exible in the .condition of stili' sole-leather.

I can paint over the roof with any ordinary The action of the air hardens a skin upon the lVhen they have advanced a sufder it soft.

its condition is not appreciably different under the extremes of temperature. The greatest cold of winter does not render it brittl-e.

and the greatest heat of summer does-not ren- Modications may be made in `the details. Instead of three or four ply felt I can use a single ply. Instead of lapping the joints according to my patent of 1885, I canlap them in the ordinary way,or I can simply abut them.

It is not important, except for aesthetic effect, that the slate befall of uniform size. Odd

' lots of different sizes, broken or damaged slate may be used. Any triangular or other spaces which are not covered by the regular slate may be'partly covered by fragments ot' slate, thejoints in all cases beingl filled up with the composition. The sla'te 'affords a proper footing for walking or working on the roof.

I can, in applying the covering to the roof,

,5o begin at the lower edge and work upward side working toward the other or either on steeplyinclined or nearly-dat roofs. lIn such ease the Workman Will stand on the freshly-laid lslate while he lays the plastic composition a little farther up and beds the slate therein; lbut the condition of thefreshly-laid composition which rises through the joints makes it preferable to avoid this, and in most eases the work should be done either from one from the top working downward. Y I do not claim any roof-covering in which slate or analogous slabs are bedded in asphalt, coal-tar, or analogous material which is softened* by heat and hardened by cold.

The roofcovering described, composed of a tough tlexible layer, as the felt B, a perma nently-plastic layerof Iron Fiber Compound Cement, C C', not influenced by heat or cold, and an outer layer of flat slabs of hard material, D, laid edge to edge, all combined and arranged to serve as herein specified.

InY testimony whereof' I have hereunto set my hand, atNew York, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

W. II. STEWART. Witnesses: v

THOMAS DREW S'rn'rsoN, M. l?. iBoYLE. 

